Brian is drilling a small test hole to locate the footer that supports the foundation.

We like to keep the radon pipe next to the foundation wall to minimize its appearance and obstruction.

Brian is core drilling the slab in a tight location.

The crew always wears protective equipment and head lamps to see their work.

Other companies use a jack hammer to fracture through the slab.

We use a 5" core bit that cuts a smooth hole through the slab.

The owner told us there was a stone base under the slab.

What we found was sandy dirt.

This is the soil below this slab.

Let's head back outside and see how Mark is doing.

On the bottom of the Tee fitting, Mark has installed a cap, with drain holes in the bottom of the cap, to allow the condensation to drain out.

The black tubing collects the water above the fan and diverts it to the drain cap. The tubing is insulated to make sure the system works on the coldest winter days.

In the winter this draining water will form an icicle. The ice shows that the drain is working.

Bill is using a traditional plumb bob to accurately measure the overhang the piping needs to be routed around.

In the truck we duplicate the overhang distance to ensure a perfect fit.

The owner requested that we match the exhaust to the existing downspout to minimize the system appearance.

We use oversized 3"x 4" downspout to ensure that this piping does not restrict the system airflow.

The aluminum downspout is carefully sealed as it is assembled to make it airtight

We learned that:

Weather resistant screen needs to be installed at the exhaust to prevent squirrels or other critters from getting into the pipe.

Our cube van becomes an important shop to do quality work.

Mark is pre-installing a chimney cap.

Mark is installing the exhaust piping while making sure it is plumb.

The PA DEP requires the radon exhaust to be above the roof.

Sealing the penetrations back into the building is obviously important to prevent water intrusion.

Here's the final system on the side of the house.

And this is how the system looks from the side.

Now let's head back inside and see how Brian is doing.

This house had a new sump pit that was open to the sub-slab soil.

An air-tight lid needs to be installed.

There was an existing plastic cover that Brian modified.

the yellow circle is a one-way drain he installed to provide emergency drainage into the sump if the basement floods.

The PA DEP requires a drain if a drain previously existed

The sump cover is sealed with silicone caulking to allow easy removal if the pump needs to be replaced.

The large hole is for a removable cap so that the owner can easily check that the sump pump is operational.

This is the completed sealing of the sump pit.

It includes a label that says this sump has been sealed to reduce radon entry.

Let's check out the final system wiring.

The conduit from the fan is routed to a new metal electrical box inside the basement.

Single conductors are routed to the fan through the conduit.

It is important that the ground wires be carefully connected and the box grounded.

The electrical source for the fan has been determined to be 20 amp, so all the fan wiring must be 12 gauge.

Some companies will use under-sized wiring which is against code and is a fire hazard.

The system does not require a separate breaker, which means an existing circuit can be used.

You must however determine which breaker the fan is wired to.

The yellow tool is a circuit finder.

Brian is using the circuit finder to locate which circuit the fan is going to be wired to.

This prevents us from tripping the breaker while we are installing the wiring.

We clearly mark the breaker the fan is wired into, so the owner can easily check it.

The piping run is really tight.

Their was no room for error routing the pipe into this basement.

Mark got the piping into the basement.

He is running it over to the suction hole.

The original system design called for one suction pipe because we assumed there was a gravel sub-base.

We added a capped Tee to facilitate adding additional suction holes.

This is the U-Tube which indicates the suction the system is creating and that the fan is operating.

When the oil columns are even, the fan is not operating and made need service.

When the oil columns are different that means the fan is operating and drawing air from under the slab.

Brian is sealing the radon vent pipe as it enters the slab.

The seal we use will stop water from coming up through the hole we installed in the slab

It is very important to seal any cracks in the slab to improve the system's effectiveness.

When there is only dirt under the slab, it is even more important because of the low airflow moving through the sub-slab soil

Once the system is running and the cracks are sealed we measure the suction the system is creating under the slab with a digital micro-monometer that can detect any sub-slab pressure change induced by the fan.

The test hole farthest from the suction pipe did not show any pressure change.

The test hole half way across the slab did show negative pressure under the slab.